The Hotel for Savannah - The River Street Inn - we'll see if it's all it's hyped up to be.

for the 11th:

Sam Shortline excursion Train 

11 Miles from Route:
Andersonville National Historic Site and National POW Museum

The train does not always stop in every town. Depending on which day you travel, the train stops long enough for passengers to get on and off the cars, usually 5 minutes.  Some stops are longer layovers.  If you would like to tour one of the towns longer, you may catch the train back on its return trip, or even the next day (if scheduled to run that day).

**this is where we are getting on!** 

Georgia Veterans State Park -  Georgia Veterans State Park is sometimes the beginning location for SAM Shortline train.  You will need to check boarding location for Cordele or Ga. Veterans Park.  Ga. Veterans park is  featuring championship golf, sparkling Lake Blackshear and military exhibits. While at Georgia Veterans Park, visit Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club where you can enjoy golfing, dining and stay in a beautiful lodge. Each room is elegantly decorated with your own patio and view of Lake Blackshear. Physical address of the Train stop on the Park is 2459 U S Hwy 280 West., Cordele, Ga. 31015.

Leslie - Your next stop will be Leslie, home of one of Georgia’s most unique museums. The Rural Telephone Museum is situated in a beautifully restored cotton warehouse that showcases antiques, switchboards, classic cars, colorful murals – and, of course, antique telephones (admission fee).

Americus - The Victorian town of Americus is your next stop. Tour Habitat for Humanity’s new Global Village. While in Americus, browse all the wonderful and quaint shops. The award-winning 1892 Windsor Hotel & Spa is the perfect place to turn your train excursion into a relaxing weekend vacation. You can even take in a show at the breathtaking 1921 Rylander Theatre.

Plains - The small Georgia town made famous by President Jimmy Carter is your next stop. While in Plains, browse President Carter’s campaign museum and an antique mall, then buy a bag of peanuts from local merchants. Visit the Plain Peanuts to try their peanut butter ice cream.

Archery - A bit further down the tracks is the community of Archery, featuring President Jimmy Carter's boyhood farm. The train will stop just steps from his old front porch, and you’ll have plenty of time to explore this National Historic Site before the SAM Shortline returns to the depot.

The Hotel for Savannah - The River Street Inn - we'll see if it's all it's hyped up to be.

A Converted Cotton Warehouse

Similar to many of the buildings along the river, the original structure of the hotel was built for the storage, sampling, grading, and export of raw cotton. By early in the 19th century, Savannah was the world’s second largest cotton seaport, due in large part by the invention of the cotton gin.

River Street Inn’s original two floors, built in 1817 out of recycled ballast stone, were soon inadequate to house the increasing amount of cotton moving through the port. As the building has the Savannah River to the north and a high bluff to the south, with buildings on either side, the only way to expand was to go higher.

On the lower floors are wide, arched doorways that were necessary to accommodate moving large bales of cotton. In 1853, the top three floors were added, allowing additional storage on the third floor and an office on the fourth and fifth. Since the upper three levels were used for office space, there are floor to ceiling windows which allowed the maximum amount of light, fireplaces for warmth, and probably most significant, the balconies that provided the factors with the opportunity to observe the arrival, departure, loading, and unloading of cargo ships.

Factor’s Walk

It was also necessary to have outside access to each level for the storage and removal of the large cotton bales, and this need resulted in the creation of a series of alleys and walkways on the bluff. These alleys became known as “Factor’s Walk” after the professionals who graded the cotton. These alleys add to the character and unique, historic design of the hotel. Additionally, the riverside streets and surrounding structures of ballast stone were once ballast in the numerous ships that traveled to Savannah from all over the world.

River Street Inn Enters the Picture

After the Civil War as prices plummeted, the Savannah cotton warehouses fell into disuse. The building now housing the River Street Inn became a warehouse for various shipping concerns until redevelopment in 1987. In 1998, the River Street Inn expanded from its original structure containing 44 guest rooms into the adjoining building, and increased in size to the present 86 rooms.

The only member of Historic Hotels of America in Savannah!

Because of River Street Inn’s efforts to keep architectural integrity, the hotel was nominated and named an official “Historic Hotel of America” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation®. Now in addition to donning a plaque with the official designation by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark, this Savannah hotel also features Savannah’s only Historic Hotels of America plaque.

Cruise on the 13th at 1pm: 

http://www.savannahriverboat.com/riverboat/cruises/harbor-sightseeing-cruise

is the site and wouldn’t you know it they JUST stopped doing brunch cruises in November?  DRAT IT!  I signed us up for the 1pm (show time is noon) sightseeing cruise instead.  I hope that is OK with everyone as that is all they had and it would be interesting to see the harbor and find out a bit more details about how things were built and some of the history. 

We will have to find lunch before we get on the boat (fast food of some sort on the way in would even work for me, but really the trip between Warner Robins and Savannah is pretty bare!)  If we leave at 8am we should be in Savannah in plenty of time to grab a bite to eat there as well and then enjoy the afternoon on a river boat for an hour or two then wander until it’s dinner time.

As we are staying right there in the river walk area, when we park for the night, we will be settled and won’t have to move cars until we leave town on Monday day – bonus!!